[vader1]

Use a VPN client on your router, it'll protect you against WebRTC leaks and it'll automatically work for your phone and other devices. Asus routers have VPN support out of the box, for other routers you can use OpenWrt/DD-WRT etc.

[theprotocol]

The issue is I also need to access certain sites/services without a VPN. Some services think you're trying to game them if you connect through a VPN (Netflix, Steam...) and there's a risk of being penalized.

[Insanity]

Steam? I am currently using Steam with AIRVPN and have not experienced any problems at all.

[theprotocol]

As I understand it, while in practice you'll easily be able to fly under the radar, if you purchase something that happens to be priced differently in the VPN region vs. your real region, you can get banned.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/2ugf53/so_how_does_t...

So, you can generally get away with it as long as you don't buy things that happen to use regional pricing / region locking. Not a great compromise.

In general, using VPNs is against their policy. But more importantly, Steam support is non-existent. If you get banned, it's a complete dice roll whether you can reach anyone at Valve, let alone restore your account.

I can't imagine losing thousands of dollars worth of games, and even if the risk is minute, I'm not prepared to take it.

[kefka]

> I can't imagine losing thousands of dollars worth of games, and even if the risk is minute, I'm not prepared to take it.

Yep, another case where piracy is strictly better. Unless you enjoy being a serf who can be told "Fuck off and die" at any time.

When will people learn?

[mirimir]

Wow, I don't game, so had no clue.

Steam's policies rather make piracy the smart option.

Sad :(

[Insanity]

Oh damn, I had no clue about this. I don't really game anymore, so I don't tend to buy anything on steam and have used it mostly for the occasional single player game and as a chat client.

Guess I don't want to risk these bans so I'll stop connecting to Steam through my VPN. Thanks for the info!

[theprotocol]

I'm not sure if that's wise, if you've always been making purchases through the VPN, it's possible Steam thinks the VPN location is your "normal" location. In that case, making the switch would trip the alarm so to speak.

I really don't know for sure though. Their policy is a mess and their tech support is reminiscent of the automated shenanigans of the bots from Portal.

I think the idea is preventing people in the US from buying games at, say, Russian prices and thus "gaming" the system (which incidentally creates one hell of a debate about globalization).

[Insanity]

Yeah I considered that too, but I have not actually made purchases through the VPN. I did not buy any games anymore for quite some years as I stopped gaming as much, thus when I started using the VPN it was only to talk to friends and play the occasional game, all after a long time of not being logged in :-)

And indeed, it's probably about the pricing of games in different regions!